A new study from the Brennan Center for Justice has found that nearly 500,000 eligible voters in 10 states with restrictive voter ID laws live in households without vehicles and reside at least 10 miles from an ID-issuing office open more than two days a week. Because many of these voters may not have driver’s licenses — and nearly all live in rural areas with dwindling public transportation options — it could be significantly harder for them to get an ID and cast a ballot, said the Brennan Center in a press release.

The Center’s research shows that 1 in 10 eligible voters lack the necessary government-issued photo ID required by new restrictive voter ID laws, including 25 percent of African-Americans and 18 percent of Americans over 65. Michael Waldman '87, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, discussed this issue on the Rachel Maddow Show. "The facts are pretty clear that despite the promise and even the constitutional requirement of making this ID available to everybody, in reality, it is going to be very hard to get to the place where you get the ID, to get the documents for a lot of our fellow citizens," he said. "And that really runs counter to the basic premise of American Democracy."

Watch the full video of Michael Waldman '87 on the Rachel Maddow Show: